Climate Change Migration and Displacement: Learning from Past Relocations in the Pacific

Tabe Tabe

doi:10.3390/socsci8070218

Abstract

It has been projected that the single greatest impact of environmental changes will be on human migration and displacement. Migration has been extensively discussed and documented as an adaptation strategy in response to environmental changes, and more recently, to climate change. However, forced relocation will lead to the displacement of people, and although much has been written about it, very little has been documented from the Pacific Islands perspective, especially by communities that were forced to relocate as a result of colonialism and those that have been forced to migrate today as a result of climate change impacts. Using the Gilbertese resettlement from the Phoenix Islands to the Solomon Islands, in particular, Wagina Island in the 1960s as a case study of forced relocation and displacement of Pacific Islands people during the colonial period, this paper aims to underline some of the important lessons that can be learned from this historical case to inform the present and future challenges of climate change migration and displacement. Without dismissing migration as a coping strategy, the paper argues that the forced relocation of people from their home islands as a result of climate change will lead to displacement. It accentuates that in the case of Pacific Islands, forced relocation will lead to displacement if they are forced to leave their land because of their deep relationship and attachment to it. The paper also emphasizes the need to acknowledge and honor Pacific Islands’ voices and perceptions in discourses on climate change migration and displacement at national, regional and international forums.

Highlights

IntroductionMovements of Pacific Islanders have often been associated with economic and political interests of Colonial Empires (Maude 1968; Silverman 1971; Tabucanon and Brian 2011; Tabe 2011; Connell 2012; Edwards 2013; Campbell 2014; McAdam 2014; Teaiwa 2015)
Mobility has always been in the nature of Pacific Islanders, and people move for various reasons.During the colonial period, movements of Pacific Islanders have often been associated with economic and political interests of Colonial Empires (Maude 1968; Silverman 1971; Tabucanon and Brian 2011; Tabe 2011; Connell 2012; Edwards 2013; Campbell 2014; McAdam 2014; Teaiwa 2015)
The Gilbertese resettlement to Solomon Islands provides a relevant example of forced relocation and displacement of Pacific

Summary

Introduction

Movements of Pacific Islanders have often been associated with economic and political interests of Colonial Empires (Maude 1968; Silverman 1971; Tabucanon and Brian 2011; Tabe 2011; Connell 2012; Edwards 2013; Campbell 2014; McAdam 2014; Teaiwa 2015). Some of these precolonial movements have resulted in the forced relocation and displacement of Pacific Islands people. In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, these groups of Gilbertese families were resettled again from the Phoenix Islands to the Solomon Islands as a result of periodic droughts and environmental degradation (Maude 1968; Knudson 1964; Meyen 1992; Tabe 2011)

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Conclusion